Meet Dakota.

Hey, I'm Dakota. It's great to meet you.

I wasn't supposed to end up in communications.

I went to school to be a teacher. Got the license, did the student teaching, took one interview and walked out knowing it wasn't the path. What I loved about teaching wasn't the classroom. It was the people and the impact. So I went to the YMCA of Silicon Valley instead, where I ran an $11M facility from 4am to 10pm, managed 100+ staff, and helped teenagers learn how government works through Youth and Government and Model UN. Turns out that was communications school. I just didn't know it yet.

From there: edtech account management (hated it, but only because it was so monotonous), and then seven years at Chime finding the next thing that needed building. Employer brand. Corporate editorial. Executive communications. IPO prep. I came in at the ground floor and left having built a function. Nobody handed me the scope — I just kept moving toward the work that wasn't done yet. I just finished up a short stint at Hiive, building the foundation for their communication and social functions to come.

I'm ADHD, deeply curious, high EQ (thanks, childhood trauma), and allergic to doing things the way they've always been done. I think in systems and stories simultaneously. I'm better at starting things than maintaining them, which is why I've built my work around exactly that.

I'm also building a clean living brand, once tried to turn a dilapidated mansion into a B&B and boutique wedding venue, and will absolutely send you a rabbit hole about something completely unrelated to communications at 1am.

Based in Chicago with my partner, Chase, and our dog Luca and cat Auggie.

Genuinely glad you're here.